Monthly Archives: January 2016

Forget the argument about the perfect age to have a child, what is more important is the right season. Even a cool British August is still a pretty uncomfortable time of year to be lugging the equivalent of a human watermelon around under your skin. Winter pregnancy is the way to go!

Maternity Fashion

Winter fashion is so much nicer than summer for dressing an expanding body. Strappy tops are lovely for keeping cool, but when your bust is expanding faster than a helium balloon they can sometimes lead to a little more exposure than you’re comfortable with. Carrying a winter baby gives you the perfect excuse to nab your other half’s cosy jumpers for yourself, and to change into your pyjama bottoms when you get home.

Winter maternity fashion is all flexible jersey dresses which cling to your curves without showing off stretch marks or prominent veins, soft knitted empire line dresses and tunics which look so cute when paired with knee high boots, and comfortable cardies and wraps.

Increased Body Temperature

Your body temperature rises during pregnancy thanks not only to your increased metabolism but also because of your baby’s own body temperature. This is particularly noticeable during your third trimester making staying warm in winter an easy task. While everyone else is shivering in their thermals you’ll be relishing crisp winter walks, and your bank account will thank you for wanting to turn your central heating down a notch or two.

Buying New Shoes

One of the nicest things about the start of winter is new boots, and being pregnant in winter is the best reason to buy some. Pack your leather soled boots away for the year and invest in some grippy rubber soled shoes with a deep tread to help keep you stable. Forget trying to squeeze swollen pregnancy feet into strappy sandals in summer, or having to wear flip-flops or trainers everywhere. Boots keep you warm, stylish, and comfortable.

Staying in and Nesting

It is difficult to justify spending your evenings and weekends doing nothing in summer, however dark winter nights and rainy days are the perfect excuse to stretch out on the sofa with a bowl of popcorn balanced on your bump and your favourite box set on the telly. A Sunday afternoon snooze is nothing to be ashamed of in January, and you can easily use your pregnancy to avoid expensive Christmas dos with bad wine and boring people you’d never dream of socialising with at any other time of year.

Nesting is a genuine, and genuinely lovely, state many women experience in late pregnancy. Nesting in winter is perfect, allowing you to fill the freezer with batch cooked goodies like stews, pies, soups, and lasagne to eat in the weeks after your baby is born, without having to swelter in a stinking hot summer kitchen.

An Easy Beauty Regime

Shaving your legs, giving yourself a pedicure, and fake tanning are all difficult when you’re pregnant in summer. Winter doesn’t make them easier, but it does remove the pressure to do them as often because your legs aren’t on show. Pregnancy skin is sensitive to sun so you might find you burn more easily, or that you suffer from heat rash or blotchy skin. Your natural pregnancy glow will let you avoid that pasty winter look, while maternity tights will hide a multitude of lazy beauty routine sins.

It’s simple enough to find negative accounts of pregnancy, whether it’s from women who spent the entire nine months before the birth feeling sick, to those who felt like they were a walking sauna, or women who struggled to keep up with their other parenting and work commitments while a small human played bongos with their internal organs.

Stories recounting how amazing pregnancy is are not as readily broadcast but they should be because, for the majority of women, it is an incredible experience. Here are some reasons real mums have told us about why they loved pregnancy.

“An excuse to nap without feeling lazy”

Being pregnant affects your energy levels, especially during the first and third trimesters. This is mainly due to a shift in your progesterone levels, though a drop in blood pressure can also contribute. Being pregnant is a legitimate reason to put your feet up for a twenty minute catnap in the afternoon or evening.

Young woman sleeping

“Enjoying bonding with my baby”

As involved as any new father is, there’s no way they can replicate the pre-natal bond forged between mother and baby. From the first flutter of movement to the odd bumps and ripples you get as your baby tries to find a comfortable position later in pregnancy, you are the only one who can fully feel their movements. It’s a magical, private bond.

“A good hair day everyday”

As well as glowing skin (thanks to a 50% increase in blood flow), pregnancy gives you hair full of bounce. Your don’t actually grow more hair while you’re pregnant, it’s the hormones causing you to lose less than you normally would, which leads to thicker looking hair. An added bonus of extra oestrogen and progesterone is that your nails should also be fantastic.

“Feeling proud of what my body can achieve”

Pregnancy may be a natural part of life – something that happens to millions of women every day – but that doesn’t make it any less extraordinary. Your body is growing a whole new person and that is nothing short of amazing.

“The anticipation and excitement”

This is especially true if you haven’t found out the sex of the baby. Doing things like buying a buggy, washing and folding socks and babygros, and writing your hypnobirthing plan is exciting. Visualising what your child will look like, picturing how your family will be after their arrival, and anticipating how delicious cuddling them will be is all part of the reason to love being pregnant.

Far from being something to endure, pregnancy is a state to celebrate. Flaunt your rounded figure with pride, relish in your increased appetite as you nourish your growing baby, and make the most of this time. Before you know it your bump will be a toddler, a tweenie, a teenager eating you out of house and home and wanting to borrow your car! Pregnancy is the start of your life as a parent. Cherish it.